Understanding Human Trafficking: An Examination of Discourses, Laws, Policing, and Migrant Labour”

Katrin Roots, Ann De Shalit, and Emily van der Meulen

overall argument

contemporary anti-human trafficking efforts in Canada often create additional harm for the very people they claim to protect.

what do anti-trafficking initiative rely on

• criminalization,

• policing,

• surveillance,

• restrictive immigration policies,

• assumptions about who qualifies as a victim.

what should efforts do

should address the structural conditions that produce exploitation, such as unsafe working conditions, poverty, racism, restrictive immigration policies, and inadequate labour protections.

The historical construction of trafficking

• Concerns about human trafficking can be traced back to the nineteenth-century white slavery panic.

• It blurred the distinction between consensual sex work and sexual exploitation.

• These historical narratives continue to influence modern anti-trafficking campaigns.

new abolitionism,

increasingly equates human trafficking with modern-day slavery

The changing image of the trafficking victim

Earlier representation	Contemporary representation
Foreign women trafficked across international borders	Canadian women and girls trafficked domestically
Women from Eastern Europe, Asia, and Latin America	The innocent, young, white Canadian girl
Organized international crime networks	Individual domestic traffickers, often portrayed as pimps

girl next door

• She is portrayed as an innocent, vulnerable, young white Canadian girl.

• This image is frequently used by politicians, NGOs, religious organizations, police, and media.

• Her supposed vulnerability encourages public support for increased policing, funding, and harsher criminal penalties.

• The emphasis on innocence and youth can make it difficult to critically question anti-trafficking policies.

The image of the trafficker

• Historically, traffickers were portrayed as foreign organized crime figures, particularly Russian and Chinese men.

• More recently, the focus has shifted toward domestic traffickers, commonly represented through the racialized stereotype of the Black male pimp.

  • This reinforces harmful associations between Black men, criminality, and sexual exploitation.

Carceral feminism

An approach to addressing gender-based violence that relies heavily on policing, criminal prosecution, imprisonment, and other punitive state interventions.

Elizabeth Bernstein uses Carceral feminism to criticize partnerships between certain feminist organizations, evangelical Christian groups, police, and prosecutors to combat human trafficking.

The authors argue that:

• These partnerships prioritize punishment over addressing structural inequalities.

• Sex work becomes equated with trafficking.

• Police and criminal justice institutions become central to protecting women.

• Individualized interventions replace broader socioeconomic solutions.

Development of Canadian trafficking legislation

Legislation	Year	Purpose
Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), s. 118	2002	Addresses cross-border human trafficking
Criminal Code, ss. 279.01–279.04	2005	Addresses human trafficking, including domestic trafficking

Canada v. Bedford (2013)

They challenged three Criminal Code provisions:

1. Operating a bawdy house.

2. Living on the avails of prostitution.

3. Communicating for prostitution.

They argued that these laws violated Charter rights, particularly section 7 (life, liberty, and security of the person).

PCEPA

established an asymmetrical criminalization model, also commonly called the Nordic or Swedish model.

Under this approach:

• Purchasing sexual services is criminalized.

• Clients are targeted.

• Third-party managers are targeted.

• Sex workers are positioned as victims who supposedly need protection.

Conflating sex work with human trafficking

1. Canadian trafficking legislation is increasingly applied to sex work.

2. Because sex work is often assumed to be inherently exploitative, police and prosecutors may treat activities involving sex workers and third parties as trafficking.

3. This creates a problem: consensual sex work and human trafficking become difficult to distinguish in legal enforcement.

Unequal impacts of enforcement

Anti-trafficking laws and policies disproportionately affect marginalized communities.

• Racialized sex workers experiencing increased investigations and harassment.

• Migrant sex workers facing immigration consequences and deportation.

• Indigenous sex workers experiencing increased policing.

Expansion of anti-trafficking policing

• 2012 National Action Plan: $25 million over four years.

• 2019–2024 National Strategy: $75 million.

Raid-and-rescue operations

Police conduct operations intended to identify and rescue trafficking victims.

These can involve:

• Entering sex work businesses without warning.

• Police posing as clients.

• Arranging meetings with sex workers.

White saviourism

The idea that Western or white individuals and institutions position themselves as heroic protectors of racialized people whom they perceive as incapable of protecting themselves.

white saviour In anti-trafficking discourse:

• Racialized women are presented as helpless victims.

• Complex social and economic conditions are reduced to individual victimization.

• The state is portrayed as a protector, even when its own policies contribute to marginalization.

Carceral protectionism

A form of governance that protects individuals who are considered deserving victims while criminalizing those who do not fit the expected image of victimhood.

Exploitation under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP)

The Temporary Foreign Worker Program allows Canadian employers to hire foreign workers to address labour shortages.

Examples include:

• Agricultural workers.

• Caregivers.

• Other low-wage workers.

Research identifies several forms of exploitation experienced by temporary migrant workers:

• Excessively long working hours.

• Unpaid overtime.

• Inadequate or overcrowded housing.

• Limited access to healthcare.

Closed work permits

• Work permits that tie migrant workers to a specific employer.

• The authors argue that this arrangement creates a power imbalance.

• Because workers depend on their employers to maintain their immigration status, they may be afraid to report exploitation or leave unsafe working conditions.

The contradiction in Canada's approach

• Exploitation within the sex industry is frequently framed as trafficking.

• Exploitation within migrant labour industries is often treated as an employment or immigration issue instead.

R. v. Domotor (2011)

• Hungarian migrant workers who were recruited and brought to Canada to work in the construction industry.

• The workers experienced exploitation by the employers who brought them to Canada.

• The employers were convicted of human trafficking offences after pleading guilty.

• The case demonstrates that labour trafficking does occur in Canada.

Proposed alternatives

• Open work permits, allowing workers to leave abusive employers.

• Permanent immigration status for migrants upon arrival.

• Stronger workplace protections.

• Access to support without fear of deportation.

proposed alternative is to move away from the current criminalization-focused framework and prioritize:

• Labour protections: Safer working conditions and employment standards.

• Worker agency: Recognizing the rights and self-determination of sex workers and migrant workers.

• Immigration reform: Reducing the vulnerability created by restrictive immigration policies.

• Structural change: Addressing poverty, racism, colonialism, and economic inequality.

• Community involvement: Allowing people directly affected by anti-trafficking policies to determine what meaningful solutions look like.

Asymmetrical criminalization

Criminalizes the purchase of sexual services and third-party involvement while positioning sex workers as victims.